Charles Darwin used the zoo to observe animals such as orangutans: ‘He had not known how civilised apes could be.’
Photograph: Rolf Nussbaumer Photography/Alamy Stock Photo

The brainchild of statesman Sir Stamford Raffles, the Zoological Society of London was to be “a collection of living animals such as never yet existed in ancient or modern times”. Dedicated to scientific research rather than mere public spectacle, it was initially dismissed by the press as the “Noah’s Ark Society”. But from day one in 1828 it became immensely popular, drawing 100,000 visitors in its first year to Regent’s Park, and 600,000 by mid-century. By then it was popularly known as the Zoo, or, as Isobel Charman puts it, “the first ‘zoo’ in history”. Her book focuses on its first 25 years and is a vivid novelistic retelling from the viewpoints of key figures, from its founder and his wife to Charles Spooner, the vet struggling to keep the exotic animals alive, and Charles Darwin, who used it as a laboratory to observe animals such as Jenny, the orangutan: “He had not known, until this very day, how civilised apes could be.” An impressive work of imagination and research, as well as a pleasure to read.

•The Zoo: The Wild and Wonderful Tale of the Founding of London Zoo is published by Penguin. To order a copy for £8.49 (RRP £9.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.